The Demon Blood Divine Cult
The Demon Blood Divine Cult.
Those words had come from the lips of the raid leader who fought Ryeong. Just before slitting his own throat, the fanatic had rasped out a dying declaration:
"Light shall dawn upon the Demon Blood Divine Cult!"
No one in the martial world with half a brain could hear that name and fail to grasp its weight. Ryeong had deduced it at once: this Demon Blood Divine Cult had to be the remnant coalition once shattered by the joint alliance of the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions—an unholy resurrection akin to the Blood Cult or the Heavenly Demon Cult reborn.
Yet she had kept her mouth shut until now. When hiding one's identity, holding confidential intelligence gave one immense leverage. And look at how well it worked right now: merely uttering the words "Demon Blood Divine Cult" had diverted Taecheong Jin'in's entire focus away from unmasking her and squarely onto matters concerning the cult.
She had several reasons for divulging what she knew, but chief among them was her assessment that Taecheong Jin'in was a reasonable man. The Jongnam disciples had praised her as the "Masked Hero." Though she moved with the lethal agility of a hardened assassin, they packaged her as a righteous figure—proof that she had harmed none of his disciples and had, in fact, reached out to save them from a meaningless death.
He was indebted to her for a profound favor. Even if her background was linked to one of the Four Great Evils, he intended to judge her with his own eyes and ears before passing sentence. That was the Taoist master's stance, and Ryeong had chosen to answer it using the Demon Blood Divine Cult as her shield.
Looking back at the catastrophic upheavals caused by the Blood Cult and the Heavenly Demon Cult in ages past, the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions had united as one, even if their relationship was now at rock bottom. And Ryeong was currently standing right on the borderline between the two. There was no better excuse, no better falsehood to hide behind, than the Demon Blood Divine Cult.
"The Demon Blood Divine Cult has sunk its roots deep across the Central Plains," she said smoothly. "My master, Cheonsal, was originally from there as well."
"..."
It was a bald-faced lie. Ryeong had never heard so much as the first syllable of the Demon Blood Divine Cult until recently. But so what? Cheonsal's original body was dead and gone. Ryeong was Cheonsal. Even if she spun a web of fabrication, the other side had no way to verify it. As long as she refrained from making absurd claims, she could easily win Taecheong Jin'in's trust.
"I was a beggar on the streets," she continued, weaving the tale. "Master took me in and raised me as an assassin."
"Go on."
"Master's goal was to break free from the Demon Blood Divine Cult. But the cult caught wind of it and dangled bait before him." It was a dirty scheme: feeding contracts to a man who was practically the greatest assassin alive, while fanning rumors to mold him into an emblem of pure terror. "As a result, Master was branded as one of the Four Great Evils."
"Wait," Taecheong Jin'in interjected, his gaze sharpening. "If I piece together what you are saying, it implies there is a mole from the Demon Blood Divine Cult embedded within the Murim Alliance."
"Precisely. That is not to say my master never took an innocent life, but the vast majority of the atrocities attributed to him were fabricated lies."
"..."
Taecheong Jin'in closed his eyes, contemplating her words in deep silence. Beside them, Jinyeong looked as though he were on the verge of fainting dead away.
Holy shit! She was Cheonsal's disciple?!
The realization jolted him awake. Jinyeong had never dreamt that Ryeong was the disciple of one of the Four Great Evils. Sure, her absurd martial prowess was bizarre for her age, but linking that alone to Cheonsal made no sense to him. Besides, he had never even heard of a martial art called the Heaven-Killing Art.
The Sect Leader truly is built different. His insight operated on an entirely different plane from Jinyeong's. To deduce such a connection from mere scraps of clues... He was an elder worthy of being studied a hundred, a thousand times over.
"Your words are difficult to believe," Taecheong Jin'in said, reopening his eyes. "I hope you understand."
"Naturally. It would be stranger if you swallowed a story like this outright."
"Therefore, until we verify the truth, I require you to remain within my sphere of control."
"As you wish."
"Enter the Jongnam Sect. Otherwise, you shall accompany me to Henan."
He framed it as a choice, but it was practically extortion under the guise of sect initiation. And what awaited her in Henan? What else but the Murim Alliance headquarters? No matter how confident she was in her lying ability, she had no desire to set foot in the Alliance fortress. That place crawled with bona fide monsters—and they were more than likely to torture her. She had wanted to keep as much distance from Jongnam as possible, but backed into a corner like this, she had no choice but to join.
"The youngest disciple, Ryeong, pays her respects to the Sect Leader."
"From this day forth, you shall be known by the Daoist name Jin Ryeong," Taecheong Jin'in replied. "Welcome to the Jongnam Sect."
"I will do my utmost."
With that, their nerve-wracking audience drew to a close. Leaving himself to mull over what he had heard, the Taoist master dismissed both Ryeong and Jinyeong.
Once they were left alone again, Jinyeong fell as quiet as a dead mouse. The change in his demeanor was utterly transparent. Playfully, Ryeong jabbed him in the ribs. Startled, he leaped backward, his eyes wide with alarm.
The sight was so ridiculous that Ryeong let out a snicker.
"I'm not gonna kill you, punk. Why are you so terrified?"
"A-Ahem! Shouldn't you address me as Senior Martial Brother now? Junior Sister."
She almost burst out laughing. Who on earth trembled like a leaf while speaking to their own junior sister? Teasing him yielded such delightful reactions that she deliberately wiped the amusement from her face, letting her expression turn chillingly cold.
"Ah. So that's how we're playing it? I did say I wouldn't kill you, but I never said I wouldn't beat you to a pulp."
"...Forgive me. Please spare my li—hic!—life."
"Ahahaha! I said I'm not going to kill you! Come on, let's go, Senior Martial Brother!"
He had actually started hiccuping. Shaking with laughter, Ryeong slung an arm around Jinyeong's shoulders and led him away from the quarters.
The Sichuan Tang Family.
The preeminent clan of the Sichuan region, and one of the illustrious Five Great Families of the Orthodox factions. Masters of poisons and hidden weapons, they held such absolute dominance in Sichuan that no martial power under heaven dared challenge their authority within their domain.
Several days had passed since grim tidings struck the Tang Family, yet not a single soul had taken action. In the Tang Family, nothing moved without the Patriarch's explicit approval. Barring the rare circumstance where a Patriarch died and left the seat temporarily vacant, neither the direct lineage nor the branch houses could take a single step until the Patriarch rendered judgment.
Thus, they had maintained complete silence. Even upon receiving word that their sacred clan relic had been lost during the raid on the Jongnam Sect, they did nothing, all to ensure the success of their Patriarch's brief closed-door cultivation.
At long last, having achieved a monumental breakthrough, the Tang Family Patriarch strode out of the subterranean cultivation chamber.
"We offer our congratulations on your grand achievement, Patriarch!!"
"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Patriarch!!!"
"Mm."
The members of the Tang Clan bowed in unison, showering him with felicitations. The master of the Tang Family had finally ascended to the pinnacle of the Transcendent Realm. It was a feat accomplished a mere three years after inheriting the mantle of patriarch.
His martial progress had stagnated for a long time, prompting him to enter seclusion. In just seven days, he had smashed through the bottleneck, attaining a height that justified calling him the strongest Patriarch in Tang Family history.
That man was none other than the current head of the Tang Family, Tang Heogun.
"Patriarch, we have urgent news to report."
"Speak. What has happened in the martial world now?"
"The Jongnam Sect was raided. Furthermore... the Myriad Poison Ring has been lost."
Tang Heogun froze in his tracks.
He had been walking with a triumphant spring in his step, but the moment he heard the words "Myriad Poison Ring," his expression froze solid.
The Myriad Poison Ring was the sacred relic of the Tang Family. It was an artifact that granted its bearer absolute immunity to all toxins—a unique masterpiece without equal throughout the annals of martial history. And it was lost?
Ssshhhk—!
"Patriarch! The medicinal herbs are withering!"
"Ah. My mistake."
Failing to rein in his emotions for a split second, noxious venomous qi had seeped from Tang Heogun's body. Realizing he stood beside an herb garden, he hastily drew the poison back, but the ground beneath his feet had already rotted away, the soil ruined beyond recovery.
It was infuriating news. Had the Tang Family itself been attacked and their relic stolen, they could have simply sought vengeance. But to have their sacred heirloom stolen while entrusted to another sect? Beyond mere humiliation, a blazing hostility surged within him.
To begin with, the Tang Family had never gotten along particularly well with the Jongnam Sect. They had only entrusted the Myriad Poison Ring to them under pressure from the greater political climate of the Central Plains, not out of willingness. And yet Jongnam had guarded someone else's treasure like utter trash?
The report did not end there.
Upon hearing the most critical piece of intelligence—the involvement of the Demon Blood Divine Cult—Tang Heogun's brows furrowed deeply, and he came to a swift decision.
"I must go to Mount Jongnam. Make the preparations."
"You... in person, Patriarch?"
The chief steward was taken aback. The Patriarch was the very embodiment of the Tang Family; the clan head moved only when grave crises threatened their very existence. The loss of a sacred relic was certainly a grave matter, but it hardly seemed necessary for the Patriarch himself to march out.
Yet Tang Heogun had already made up his mind, and once resolved, nothing could sway him. The chief steward realized it was futile to dissuade him.
"Yes. There is no need for cumbersome ceremonial gifts. Summon the Young Clan Head and have him stand by."
"Understood, Patriarch!"
The chief steward hurried off toward the Young Clan Head. Dismissing the remaining clan elders, Tang Heogun clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.
"The Myriad Poison Ring is lost..."
He clicked his tongue in disgust. Not long ago, the Mount Cheongseong Sect had met with disaster at Cheonsal's hands while transporting a relic, and now evil claws had reached into the Jongnam Sect as well.
Naturally, the two incidents were of a different nature, but to a third party looking on from the outside, it was only natural to think that something ominous was brewing in the realm.
"It has been a long time, Taecheong Jin'in."